So… I’m down to just 2 phones.
The ZenFone 9, or the Galaxy S23.
Well, I couldn’t get the ZenFone 9 on contract with my chosen network, and I also couldn’t justify buying the device outright and then doing getting a SIM-only contract. I’d prefer to combine the two costs, like I have in previous years.
Therefore, I’ve gone for the Galaxy S23. Let me once again run through some of the specifications on GSMArena, and explain why…
Galaxy S23
First, let’s start with size. There’s little change to my S21, being 6.1″ to my S21’s 6.2″.
It weighs a bit heavier, but happily it’s still a Samsung and still small.
The 1080p AMOLED screen has a resolution of 2340 x 1080, 425 PPI and a 19.5:9 screen ratio, but again it’s got a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ (the same as my S21).
I went for the 256GB model with 8GB RAM, and it has a similar camera array with wide, ultrawide and telephoto lenses.
This time, however, the telephoto lens is a native 70mm lens with 3x optical zoom. My Galaxy S21 only had a 29mm lens with 1.1x optical zoom, and got to that 3x mark with 1.9x digital zoom.
The digi-zoom was okay, but was no match for pure optical zoom, and was one of the areas that I disliked on my Galaxy S21.
8K video can now also be shot at 30fps, instead of just at the filmic 24fps, and Bluetooth has bumped up from 5.0 to 5.3.
The battery is still a Lithium ion cell, but capacity has dropped from my Galaxy S21’s 4,000 mAh, to the S23’s 3,900 mAh.
No Exynos
But probably the biggest change, and the one that influenced me the most, was the processor.
Traditionally, in Europe, we’ve always received the worse Exynos variants.
The USA gets the Snapdragon variant, and we get Exynos.
That’s not a problem if you live in the USA, but it does mean for us Europeans that reviews online are often wrong – particularly about speed and performance, because those reviews are based on the Snapdragon variant that US consumers receive, not the worse Exynos version that we get!
Well, that’s all changed… because my new Galaxy S23 has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC.
Applause!
Hello again, Snapdragon!
The last phone I had with a Snapdragon SoC, was the HTC Desire Eye… all the way back in 2015!
Back then, my Desire Eye had the 28nm Snapdragon 801 chip – quite a bit different, and now slower, than the 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 of my Galaxy S23.
In fact, come to think of it, this is the first Samsung phone I’ve owned with a Snapdragon SoC!
Before the Desire Eye, I was a Windows Phone user, with a Nokia Lumia 820 with… a Snapdragon S4 Plus.
Before that, my very old HTC Wildfire had the MSM7225 Snapdragon S1.
But I’ve never had a Snapdragon processor inside a Samsung phone.
That’s not to say I’ve missed it entirely, just that I wish there has been more.
Rose-tinted spectacles, and all that, but generally my experience with the Galaxy S7 and S9+ were decent enough.
The Galaxy S21 was a bit of a nose-dive, but I’m proud to report my S23 is really fast.
And that’s all down to the processor.
Conclusion
I was disappointed with Sony this year. If the Xperia 5 V has have been available, that’s the phone I would’ve got.
I guess I could’ve gone for the ZenFone 9, but I couldn’t get it on contract.
I also could’ve gone for an iPhone, and to be honest the iPhone 14 Pro was probably my ideal phone, especially after the ordeal I endured with my Galaxy S21.
But in the end, I’ve gone for the Galaxy S23, because it’s small, it’s a Galaxy, and it has a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.
If Samsung ever revert back to its own Exynos processors in the near future, this could very well be my last Samsung phone for a while… but I know it’s going to be a good one, because it’s got a Qualcomm chip!
In tech years, 2015 to 2023 is a long time, but I’m glad I’m finally back with Snapdragon.
– Chris JK.
KPH tech blog 
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